San Antonio councilman accuses mayoral candidate of leaking executive-session information

District 2 City Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez on Monday fired off a tweet accusing District 8 Councilman — and mayoral hopeful — Manny Pelaez of leaking information from council’s closed executive sessions.

The finger pointing comes after McKee-Rodriguez, District 6’s Melissa Cabello Havrda and three other council members held a press conference last week raising allegations that City Attorney Andy Segovia has provided inaccurate and conflicting legal advice. Some even called for Segovia’s removal.

The press conference came after Segovia declined to let council move into executive session last Wednesday to discuss contract talks with the firefighter’s union, which some on council said could push city spending into a deficit.

In a media statement issued after the presser, Segovia said he didn’t want to discuss the matter behind closed doors because he feared information would leak, putting the city in a compromised negotiating position.

However, in Monday’s tweet, McKee-Rodriguez said the person Segovia should be worried about leaking isn’t among those members of council calling for his removal but rather Pelaez, an ally of the city attorney.

“Many of us, on a number of occasions, have called [Councilman] Manny out of leaking information from exec sessions,” McKee-Rodriguez wrote on social media platform X. “[I don’t know] who Andy is accusing of being a leak, but his confidence wasn’t shaken when we shared that with him.”

McKee-Rodriguez’s comments come days after Pelaez ripped McKee-Rodriguez and other Segovia skeptics over their decision to hold a press conference to discuss the city attorney’s alleged shortcomings.

“What we saw today really has nothing to do with [Segovia’s] performance or his fitness for office,” Pelaez said in a video statement posted on X. “It was a lot of political grandstanding and showboating. But it’s done at the expense of a good man’s reputation, and playing fast and loose with a person’s career to score political points — that’s really disappointing. It’s not good leadership.”

Pelaez’s office was unavailable Tuesday for immediate comment on McKee-Rodriguez’s tweet.

Despite what Pelaez thinks about his colleague’s behavior, council is set to discuss Segovia’s performance during a Wednesday executive session. The deliberative body’s discussion of the fire union contract will resume Thursday — in public.

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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.